Gibbs highlights Harrisburg's PR's at Herrin Invite

The Harrisburg High School boys' track and field team took seventh out of 17 teams at last week's Herrin Invite, but the meet was highlighted by a first place finish from Zach Gibbs and six personal records.
Gibbs had a heave of 50-feet-2 in the shot put for first place and Nick Phillips had a throw of 43-feet-10 to finish eighth and also pick up a PR in the shot out.
Kody Cavender was second in the pole vault, going 13-feet and Kyle Cavender matched his jump at the Carterville Invite, clearing 12-feet.
Bentley Linch was fourth in the 110 high hurdles, finishing with a time of 17:08 and teammate JT Stone had a time of 20.07 in the 110's. Linch had a time of 43.38 in the 300 intermediate hurdles for a eighth place finish. Stone turned in a time of 49.50.
Stone took seventh in the triple jump, clearing 40-feet-2.75, which was a PR for the Bulldog.
Sean Pruitt had two PR's, one came in the 3200 meter run as he crossed the line at 12:26, the other happened in the 1600 meter run as he finished with a time of 5:21. In the same event, Tyler Depew also had a PR, finishing with a time of 6:09. Depew then turned in a time of 2:44 in the 800 meters.
Easton Wallace had a time of 12.14 in the 100 meters and Noah Thaxton took sixth in the long jump, clearing 19-feet-5.
Thaxton took home Harrisburg head coach Zach Cox's Top Dawg award, the award for the meet MVP, as he was the anchor leg on a 4x200 meter relay team that was second with a time of 1:38.10 and was the lead leg on a 4x400 meter relay team that was 8th, finishing with a time of 3:41.87.
"Our kids really competed hard and their efforts showed," Cox said of the Herrin Invite. "We had several big PR's in the field events and Gibbs joined the 50 foot club with his winning throw in the shot put and from there, the field events snowballed for us. JT Stone had. 40 foot triple jump for the first time, Nick Phillips improved 1.5 feet in the shot and Thaxton had a big jump well over 20 foot in the long jump that he scratched at the board. The Cavenders were solid as always with a second and fourth place finish in the pole vault.
"That freshman/sophomore 4x200 relay team of Thaxton, Lawler, Case and Linch took second and should have taken first with some cleaner handoffs. Linch placed fourth in the 110's and that was all we scored on the track, which is really uncharacteristic for us and unfortunately we were bit by the injury bug and lost a couple of others the past week. Regardless, if our guys can step it up during workouts, we will continue to see big improvements in both the field and track."
At the Carterville Invitational, Harrisburg came away with three first place finishes and a handful of personal records.
Bentley Linch grabbed two of the three first place finishes as he took home the top prize in both the 110 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles. Linch's time in the 110 was 16.05 seconds, good enough also for a PR, while he had a PR in the 300 as well, turning in a time of 43.72 seconds.
JT Stone also had a PR in the 300 hurdles with a time of 47.93 and turned in a time of 19.78 in the 110 high hurdles.
The other first place finish went to Zach Gibbs in the shot put as Gibbs had a heave of 48-feet-10. In the same event, teammate Nick Phillips had a throw of 40-feet-3.
Kody Cavender had a third place finish in the pole vault, clearing 12-feet. Kyle Lavender went 12-feet as well, finishing fourth.
The 4x400 meter relay team of Thaxton, Lawler, Case and Barners were third with a time of 3:47.92, while the 4x800 meter relay team of Pruitt, Case, Barners and Shackleford, had a time of 9:51.
Dawson Beers had a PR in the discus, with a throw of 115-feet-4, while Will Gribble had toss of 114-feet-7.
In the 3200 meter, Josh Smith and Tyler Depew each had PR's as Smith finished in a time of 12:25 and Depew crossed the line at 13:11. In the 800 meters, Jesse Lawler turned in a PR and a time of 2:15.39 for a sixth place finish. Wallace was seventh in the 200 meters with a time of 23.61, good enough for a PR, while Linch also had a PR with a time of 24.16.
In the long jump, Noah Thaxton was 6th, going 17-feet-5 and in the triple jump, JT Stone was fifth, clearing 38-feet-5.5, also good enough for a PR.
Easton Wallace had a time of 11.53 in the 100 meters, good enough for a PR, while Sean Pruitt finished the 1600 meters in a time of 5.35.